Two years after the events of the first film, LAPD sergeants Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh are pursuing unidentified suspects suspected of drug trafficking. However, they discover they have been transporting an illegal shipment of gold in the form of Krugerrand coins from the National Party government of South Africa. Later, consul-general Arjen Rudd and security agent Pieter Vorstedt kill Hans, their man who lost the shipment of Krugerrands, and debate how to steer the police away from their activities. Pieter suggests warning Murtaugh off the investigation, so commits a home invasion on his residence, causing Captain Murphy to reassign Riggs and Murtaugh to protecting an obnoxious federal witness, Leo Getz.
